The lecture and seminar courses during the first two terms are offered each year (credit points in parentheses).
The lecture courses marked with * are essential for the subsequent courses and should be attended.
The QM II course is not a necessary prerequisite for QFT. The latter can already be attended towards the end of the Bachelor studies.

Lectures for Specialization

These lectures are offered every two years. The professors of the TPI will be glad to give individual advice about which courses are useful for your Master’s thesis.

Quantum Theory

The Theory of Quantum Fields is of great importance for gaining deeper insight into the fundamental laws of nature and has an increasing impact on novel applications. Quantum fields successfully describe the fundamental interactions in elementary particle physics and are of utmost importance for theories beyond the standard model. At the same time quantum theory plays an increasingly important role in laser-, atomic-, and molecular physics, and is an indispensable tool to study phase transitions in many-body systems.

The professors

Martin Ammon, Stephan Fritzsche, Holger Gies, Andreas Wipf

and their co-workers cover a wide range of research topics of modern quantum theory. The following table links possible research fields with lecture courses offered by members of the research group.

Research Fields

Professors

Lectures

theory of elementary particles

Ammon, Gies, Wipf

gauge theories, symmetries in physics

symmetries and phase transitions

Ammon, Gies, Wipf

physics of scales, lattice field theories

string theory

Ammon

string theory, AdS/CFT correspondence

(supersymmetric) lattice field theories

Wipf

lattice field theories, physics of scales

processes in strong electromagnetic fields

Fritzsche, Gies

physics of the quantum vacuum, atoms in external fields

relativistic atomic physics

Fritzsche

theoretical atomic physics

Research in quantum theory and quantum field theory profits considerably from mathematical methods and the interdependency of physics and mathematics. Structural insights and rigorous results about quantum systems are often based on advanced mathematical methods taught in specialized lectures on higher analysis, geometry and Lie groups.

Theory of Gravitation

The universal gravitational force dominates on large scales. It is described very successfully by general relativity. Main research areas of the gravity group deal with strong gravitational fields of astrophysical objects like neutron stars and black holes. In many cases the application of general relativity is based on sophisticated numerical methods. In view of the burgeoning field of gravitational wave astronomy with its far reaching implications for astrophysics and cosmology, a deeper knowledge of realistic solutions of the Einstein field equations is urgently needed.

The professors

Bernd Brügmann, Reinhard Meinel

and their co-workers cover a wide range of research topics within mathematical, numerical and astrophysical aspects of gravitational theory. The following table links possible research fields with courses offered by members of the gravity group.

Research Fields

Professors

Lectures

general relativity

Brügmann, Meinel

general relativity, mathematical relativity

numerical relativity

Brügmann

numerical relativity, computational physics, spectral methods

relativistic astrophysics

Brügmann, Meinel

relativistic astrophysics, magnetohydrodynamics, gravitational waves

alternative theories of gravitation and quantum gravity

Ammon

numerical relativity, AdS/CFT correspondence

Modern research in general relativity is at the interface of mathematics, numerics and new observational possibilities in astrophysics. Quantizing gravity bridges the gap to quantum field theory. The specialized courses deal with astrophysics and astronomy, mathematical and numerical methods and topics from quantum field theory.